RALLY navigator Andy March-bank has given up on his quest to land a British title this year - but he's hoping to bounce back in a car once owned by former world champion Colin McRae.

Marchbank, 45, of Little Sutton, and driver Hugh Hunter, of Denbighshire, have pulled out of the British Trial Drivers' Association Championship with five races remaining after becoming increasingly frustrated with the poor reliability of their Ford Escort WRC.

The pair decided enough was enough after the Red Dragon Rally in South Wales, when an enforced retirement left them lying a lowly 17th in the championship standings.

They are hoping for better fortune next year after replacing their 10-year-old vehicle with the Ford Focus WRC that McRae - world rally champion in 1995 - drove in the 2001 Rally of Great Britain.

Marchbank, a former professional co-driver, said: 'Hugh and myself made a decision before the race. If we retired in Wales, we would leave the championship because we had to score points to have a chance of winning the title.

'We had to retire half-way through the final stage because the car had problems with the power steering. It's frustrating because we won the first rally of the season and were leading in each round of the championship, but kept retiring because of the car.'

Marchbank and Hunter expect better results in their newly-acquired Focus, which will be entered into next year's ANCRO National Rally Series. The finishing touches are being added to it in time for trial races at the beginning of August.

The Little Sutton co-driver said: 'The Escort is a good circuit car for driving on tarmac, but it's 10 years old now and can't take the hilly terrain that rally driving demands. The new car has a lot better spec and fingers crossed it will be more reliable.

'We're testing the new car in the smaller rallies to see if it'll cope in the Cambrian Rally in Llandudno in November.'

The duo's assault on the ANCRO National Rally title has been boosted by a sponsorship deal with tyre company Dunlop.

'There is coverage of the championship on satellite television so the sponsor gains exposure and they will also help partially cover the costs of competing,' explained Marchbank. 'Each round costs £5,000.'

* There were more reliability issues for Andy Marchbank at the weekend when he partnered Tony Gush in a Peugeot 205 GTi at the PK Memorial Rally in Corwen, North Wales. The pair retired on the last stage when they snapped the gear linkage. They were lying seventh overall after starting as favourites.